11.6.10

The World Cup Begins

In about forty minutes the 2010 World Cup gears up. I've got the DVR set to record the games I want to see (haven't set for Saturday's matches yet). HD will ensure I can almost smell the sweat. For sports, this is a big deal. For soccer (the real football), this is the deal. It does not get better than this.

Honestly, this is how the problems between countries should be dealt with.

The coverage has begun. It looks amazing in HD. South Africa, an unlikely venue as any, is a lot more majestic than I imagined it to be. As the footage of nature of spliced with soccer footage, I can't help but think this World Cup is needed. Right now there is not a lot to be happy about throughout the world. Africa, with its long-standing history of suffering, may be symbolic of things to come to places like Greece, the rest of the EU, and eventually America. The Koreas are on the brink of war. Economies are collapsing. Environmental damage is reaching record proportions.

A little soccer, which is nothing more than entertainment combined with exercise, is a welcome distraction. It is a way for people of a region to have pride without taking up arms without slaughtering their neighbors.